A Martian probe has just sent an encrypted message to Earth to see if humans are capable of understanding it. Thus begins a curious (and fascinating) experiment launched by an international team of scientists and artists of what would be the first «drill» of a possible alien message. The objective, as explained by the promoters of this project, is plug if earthlings are trained to detect, process and decrypt a possible extraterrestrial signal. And you? Would you be able to decode this enigmatic message? Well, pay attention because you also have the opportunity to solve the challenge.
Last week, the European probe ExoMars Orbiter sent what could be «a message that an advanced extraterrestrial civilization could eventually send to Earth.» The signal has been captured by at least four radio astronomy observatories around the world (centres equipped with giant antennas dedicated entirely to ‘x-raying’ the electromagnetic waves that swarm in the cosmos). He The exact content of the message has not yet been revealed.. In fact, not even all the scientists who have succeeded in this project know what it is about. The challenge now is to try to understand what it contains.
How to decipher an alien message
All data collected by radio telescopesand have been published on the website of the initiative (allocating.space) along with an appeal to the public to help decrypt them. For this, a repository with all the information captured by the radio telescopes has been created, on the one hand, and, on the other, a Discord channel so that users can share their findings. In less than a week since the launch of this portalthere are already almost 2,500 people who have signed up to solve this unknown alien and speculate on the possible phrases, drawings or thoughts that could contain the signal.
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Meanwhile, the world’s largest radio telescopes are also working to try to decipher this message. In Germany, for example, the antennas of the Sternwarte Bochum explain that they have managed to capture almost all the messages sent by the Martian probe except for «some frames that cannot be decoded«. In total, these installations have registered some 10GB of data During the event and now, according to their technicians, the work will focus on trying to recover the lost material before using it in what would become the translation.
We are pleased to report that we logged 10 GB of IQ data during the @asigninspace @danieladepaulis @ESA_TGO live event signal with 20m dish @SternwarteBO and that we receive most of the message with good SNR to decode. Thanks to @ea4gpz who reviewed the recording using the… pic.twitter.com/SexjMouVcA
—AMSAT-DL (@amsatdl) May 27, 2023
The call to ‘decode’ the extraterrestrial signal it will remain open for six to eight weeks. During all this time, the promoters of this project will carry out various workshops and activities to, for example, explain how they are currently working to process and decode how electromagnetic waves come from space or how the great scientific institutions of the globe are preparing for an eventual discovery of extraterrestrial life. All these debates will be discussed from different cultural and ethical perspectives and, as explained by Daniela de Paulis, the artistic aspect will also be taken into account.